Limousine business doing well in Southwest County

At first glance, Southwest County doesn't seem like a place that
would provide much business for limousine services, with the
exception of occasional birthday parties, weddings and annual high
school proms.

There aren't any major movie studios in the region, there are
nearly as many dirt roads as there are paved ones and folks are
attracted to the area because homes are moderately priced and it's
a nice place to raise a family.

But Southwest County does have several things going for it that
makes the limousine business a viable enterprise. The region is
about halfway between Ontario and San Diego international airports,
which makes shuttling corporate employees from firms such as
Guidant a routine event.

And don't forget about the wine industry. Area wineries draw
thousands of visitors a year, many of whom rely on the limousine
services to drive them around. All of that adds up to a recipe for
success for the half-dozen limousine companies in Southwest
County.

Industry veteran doing well

"Business for us has been great," said Dennis Dillon, who heads
up the 5-year-old M.V.P. Limousine/Temecula Shuttle in Temecula.
"We've continued to grow every year and this year is starting out
fantastic."

Dillon is a veteran of the limousine business in Southwest
County. He founded Cloud Nine Limousine Service Inc. in the early
1990s before selling it and establishing M.V.P. Limousine. He later
added Temecula Shuttle after acquiring the transportation service
from Old Town businessman Ed Dool.

The bulk of the business for M.V.P. comes from corporate
accounts, Dillon said. He learned from his first go-round in the
industry that special events like high school proms, while
lucrative, were too seasonal to provide a steady cash flow.

M.V.P. also does numerous airport runs, constantly shuttling
back and forth to Ontario and San Diego airports with an occasional
run to Los Angeles International Airport. Rates vary depending on
the destination. The company has several stretch and passenger
limousines and is building an 18-passenger bus limousine it plans
to unveil in the coming months.

The ex-Riverside Transit Authority bus will have all the
trappings one can expect in a limousine, including a stereo system
with AM-FM cassette and compact disc player and a bar.

"It's a party bus," Dillon said. "It's for people who are going
to (San Diego) Charger games, (Anaheim) Angel games and (San Diego)
Padre games."

Upstart also finding success

While M.V.P. is the largest limousine service in the region,
there are a few smaller companies, such as Millennium Limousine
Inc. of Temecula. The year-old service, co-owned by Lawrence Joyner
and Rosa Juarez, has a stretch limousine, a sedan and passenger van
that are constantly in use, Joyner said.

"We are doing well," he said. "We started off slow building the
business and gradually our weekly runs our increasing."

Three other limousine companies do business in Southwest County,
but none returned phone calls seeking comment.

While Joyner is new to the area, he's an industry veteran having
spent a few years driving for A-1 Limousine in Princeton, N.J. , a
full-service operation with satellite offices in Piscataway and
Pennsylvania. Millennium is the official limousine service for this
year's Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival, set
for Sept. 13-16.